Warrior of the Heart
by KattxBrat
Summary: A foreign woman has come to the land of China where she is destined to be a teacher, warrior, and maybe even a lover of a lonely General who has been searching for the woman that can save him.
1. Angel on Dragon Wings

A woman kidnapped by the Danes of her ancient homeland in Wessex ends up in China after almost dying. When saved, she is brought back to Cheng Du, the homeland of the Shu Kingdom. With no desire to return home to her cruel family, she is given the option of making China her new home…at a price. She must teach the Shu her language to use as a code against the enemies, learn to fight to become a scout, and maybe even become a savior and lover of a man who has sworn never to love again and keeps his loyalty only to his Lord. Will she be able to save him from the past that haunts him, and maybe he saving her from the future that hunts hers? Will they survive together the bloodshed of war and the differences their homelands bring? It is as the story goes…Warrior of the Heart.   
  
Chapter I: Angel on Dragon Wings  
  
"Ah," Zhang Fei sighed, leaning against the trunk of a Sakura Tree. "Finally, we made it back home."  
  
"Yes, it is good to be back in Cheng Du," Guan Yu replied, watching the sun beginning to set. "It was a long, hard journey."  
  
"Oh, your telling me," the scruffier brother said. "Day in and night out of riding, sleeping in the saddles just to make sure we don't get ambushed by enemies, not to mention not having a decent meal for the past several weeks is a killer!"  
  
Guan Yu turned to look at his oath brother and couldn't help but smile. "You've managed quite well, I must say. And all without a woman, too."  
  
"Don't remind me. Where is Liu Bei?"  
  
The giant turned toward the path there youngest oath brother had gone through earlier, seeing nothing. "He said he was scouting ahead, making sure no enemies have occupied the castle while we were away. They could just as easily be waiting for us like had at Bo Wan Po."  
  
Zhang Fei suddenly chuckled as he got back up and stretched. "That was an amusing battle. I've never seen Xiahou Dun run so fast for his life."  
  
"Yes, but he was hardly injured. He's gotten quicker on his feet since his fatal one during the attack against Lu Bu."  
  
"Lu Bu…what a monster. I hear he is currently revolting against Dong Zhuo? Along with that beautiful Diao Chan. Lucky bastard."  
  
Guan Yu stroked his beard than thoughtfully, his robe swaying as he turned and walked out a little ways, pacing. "I still have not come to a conclusion of what her true intentions are. She may become as big a threat as Lu Bu himself."  
  
"What?" Zhang Fei cried out. "Brother, you must have been out in the sun too long, or maybe your just getting old. There is no—"  
  
"Hush!" Guan Yu said sharply. "I hear someone."  
  
Both brothers held their weapons in a battle pose and looked around them, facing back to back. There eyes were alert as they darted left to right.   
  
"Hold, brothers. It is I."  
  
Both the older giants sighed in relief as Liu Bei came back through the thicket of the bushes on a black mare. He had no look of rush on his face, therefore telling them he had seen no one hostile, but his brothers gave him a queerest look when they saw a long bundle in front of Liu Bei.  
  
"What is that?' Guan Yu asked, stepping up to the horse. With his massive height, he came up to Liu Bei's shoulders and looked down to see a young girl's face wrapped up inside the bundle.  
  
Zhang Fei also looked and smiled. "Find yourself a woman, eh, brother? You must have been more anxious than I."  
  
Liu Bei ignored the remark and dismounted off the horse, bringing the girl down with him and laid her on the floor. "I found her further down near the banks of the river. She was unconsciousness when I found her, and she seems badly wounded, several cuts here and there and two massive ones across her back."  
  
"What on earth was she doing there? Why was she not inside the castle?"  
  
"She is not of this region, brother, or even of this kingdom," Liu Bei replied.  
  
Both brothers looked up at him. "Is she a spy?" they both asked at once.  
  
"No, for she is not even of this land…"  
  
He pulled back part of the cloth that was covering her head, dark brown hair with golden streaks in it framing her moon-shaped face.   
  
"A foreign devil!" Zhang Fei yelled, hoisting out his weapon.  
  
"Ease, Zhang Fei," Guan Yu said. "She is merely a child. The only thing I can think of of how she ended all the way over here was she was shipwrecked, carried by the ocean into the current of the river and ended up here."  
  
"A long shot in the dark," Liu Bei said, "but the only one that could explain it. Either way, let us get back to the castle and tend to her wounds. Yue Ying may be able to help her."  
  
Back at the main household in the castle, Yue Ying and Zhuge Liang had come to greet their lords back when they found Guan Yu carrying a strange looking girl.  
  
"Who is that?" Yue Ying asked, walking straight up to him. She saw from a distance that the girl was bleeding and needed help.   
  
"A foreigner," Zhuge Liang replied calmly.   
  
"We found her by the river," Liu Bei explained, opening the door to let Guan Yu walk through. He bent his head low, careful at the same time not to drop or bang the girl into the narrow door frame. Yue Ying was right behind him and pointed to a back room. "Put her on the bed."  
  
Guan Yu did as told, walking into a small wooden room with a bed, a table and chair and one small window looking out the rest of the small village. "Can you heal her?"  
  
"I will try," the strategist's wife said. "Leave us alone for now."  
  
Guan Yu nodded and turned to leave. He joined the other men in the main room and sat down only because he was the only one who had to keep his head bent when in the room.   
  
"We believe she was shipwrecked and carried in by the river from the ocean," Liu Bei explained. "I doubt that she is a spy for anyone."  
  
"If to be carried by the river from the ocean, lord," Zhuge Liang began, "she would have gone through Wei Territory."  
  
All three oath brothers' faces hardened. "They must be the ones responsible for the shipwreck. Cao Cao takes kindly to no one outside his kingdom, especially foreigners."  
  
"Than again, no one really does," Zhang Fei said. "Not with their impurity and sac religious acts."  
  
Liu Bei turned to his brother, raising an eyebrow. "You don't care for her at all, do you?"  
  
"Personally, I think you should have left her to die. That way she could join her family."  
  
Liu Bei shook his head. "I could not leave her out there to die all alone more than I could leave my son were he in the same predicament."  
  
There was a knock at the door than, followed by a voice announcing, "Lord Liu Bei! It Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei."  
  
"Enter."  
  
The door slid open, one of the five Tiger Generals followed by the disciple of Zhuge Liang walking into the room. "Welcome back, lords," they both said as they bowed.  
  
"Hello, Zhao Yun. All is well in the West?"  
  
"Yes, lord. Everything looks clear. I think Cao Cao is at momentary ease for his troops to rest."  
  
"The three kingdoms have been heavily exhausted after the Naman Campaign," Guan Yu said, stroking his beard again. "Most especially the Shu after we attacked them head on."  
  
"Boys," Liu Bei said. "I have a question."  
  
"Yes lord?"  
  
"If you were to find someone…say…stranded out in the forest, badly injured, who was all alone and had no place to go…would you leave them to die?"  
  
Both younger men looked at one another. "No, lord."  
  
"What if it was a woman?" Liu Bei persisted.  
  
"Good lord…" Zhang Fei mumbled, shaking his head.  
  
"Certainly not, than," Jiang Wei answered. "I would not hesitate to help her."  
  
"I am glad to hear that. But there is one thing I failed to mention. What if the woman…was not of this land?"  
  
"If she were not a Shu?" Zhao Yun asked.  
  
"If she were not any of the Three Kingdoms' people."  
  
"Than…what is she?"  
  
"Oh, for crying out loud, brother!" Zhang Fei said after losing his patience. "Boys, the woman is a foreigner. A Foreign Devil from the West! She was supposedly shipwrecked at sea, possibly by the Wei and was carried by the river to here where we found her and brought her back."  
  
Jiang Wei blinked and looked back at Liu Bei. "A foreigner? Truly?"  
  
"Yue Ying is tending to her wounds in the back room," Zhuge Liang said.   
  
"Though give the name 'Foreign Devils,' she is still a human being and at the same time, not an enemy," Zhao Yun remarked. "It would be not be chivalrous to leave a woman in distress, much less inhuman to leave anyone in such a state."  
  
"Well said," Liu Bei replied. He turned to his brother, Zhang Fei, and crossed his arms over his chest.   
  
"Humph!" was the warrior's only reply. "I say it is a bad omen to bring foreigners into our homes! Could bring bad luck. Any woman on a ship or battle brings bad luck, and it could be the same for Shu all together!"  
  
"You are just being superstitious," Guan Yu said sternly. "Besides, you hesitate not to let one warm your bed."  
  
The more crude of the two was about to reply when Yue Ying walked back through the door, shutting it behind her.  
  
"You men ramble too much. Stay quiet to let the girl rest or leave. I have wrapped her wounds and luckily stopped the bleeding. With rest she should recover over time."  
  
"Thank you, Yue Ying," Liu Bei said, folding his hands as he bowed. "I am in your debt."  
  
"No, lord. It is you who should be thanked. Had you not found her, she would have died within several hours, a day at most."  
  
Zhao Yun now looked interested. "May I see her? I've never seen a foreign woman before."  
  
Yue Ying laughed softly, smiling at the young General. "She is the same as any of our women."  
  
"No, not really," Zhang Fei remarked. "She has a bigger build, much taller than any woman I've seen, her hair was much thicker, her face fuller and longer, and her skin darker, though pale at the same time for a foreign woman."  
  
Everyone turned to look at the obvious foreign-hater with slight disblief in their eyes.  
  
"What?!" he yelled.   
  
"For someone who takes no notion towards an outsider, it seems not to stop you for noticing every aspect of a woman's features," the long-bearded giant replied.  
  
"Like you didn't notice, yourself! You were looking at her too, and I must say, you didn't mind at all to carry her here to—"  
  
"Enough, the both of you," Yue Ying rang sharply. "I said to stay quiet or to leave. Let the girl rest." She than turned to Zhao Yun, her expression becoming soft again. "You should not disturb at the moment, but the moment she awakens, you can look at her all you want."  
  
Zhuge Liang, though remaining quiet, was observant as always, and smiled to himself as he saw a soft tint of red creep over Zhao Yun's cheeks.   
  
"A foreign woman, you say," Pang Tong said, his voice a wave of curiosity and amusement. "Is that where Zhao Yun has been? Visiting her?"  
  
"He says he hasn't," Jiang Wei answered, sharpening the tip of his spear. "But I see him go to the Lord's main household everyday. He says he's just reporting in on his scouts, but he spends an excessive amount of time in there for that."  
  
"Zhao Yun…is interested, huh?" This time there was only pure amusement in his tone. "It was clear he always wanted something different in the woman reigned here, but I did not think an outsider would catch his heart."  
  
Jiang Wei, as brilliant as he was with his strategic mind, had no clue in the relations of man and woman. "Catch his heart? No. Zhao Yun is bound to his duties. He would not have time for a woman…right?"  
  
Pang Tong laughed from the rock he was sitting on, the veil over his face shifting. "I think it's why he is interested. When was the last time Zhao Yun ever had a woman?"  
  
Jiang Wei looked down at the ground and thought for a moment. After a while he looked back up and shook his head. "I don't remember Zhao Yun ever having a woman."  
  
Again Pang Tong laughed and looked up at the afternoon sky. "You've been with us for how long, Jiang? A year…two years? I think without the company of a woman for that long would drive any man to extreme measures, duty or not."  
  
"Leave the boy alone, Pang," Yue Ying said. She was standing in front of them with her arms crossed over her chest. "At the same time he may just merely be concerned for her health, being that she is a woman and he a gentleman."  
  
"Maybe," Pang Tong sang. "Who knows? I doubt even Zhao Yun himself does."  
  
"Er…" Jiang Wei began.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"It if would be all right, Lady, may I also see the foreign woman?"  
  
"Of course. You can go over there right now."  
  
In an instant Jiang Wei was on his feet. "Thank you!" And took off.  
  
"What about you?" Yue Ying asked, turning back to Pang Tong. "Curious as well?"  
  
"A woman is a woman to me, no matter the shape or color." He stood up than and stretched. "Besides, I have better things to prepare than to waste time looking at a girl. Has she even awoken yet?"  
  
"Now and than, but never while Zhao Yun is there. She's only consciousness for several minutes, anyway."  
  
Yue Ying turned than and walked off, heading over to the storage crates for more supplies, leaving Pang Tong to himself. When Yue Ying was out of earshot, the mysterious man smiled to himself. "Good for Zhao Yun, though, although I didn't think he would be into the…heh…silent type."  
  
"Hello Jiang," Liu Bei greeted as the young disciple walked in. "Joining your friend, Zhao Yun, in there?"  
  
"Yes, lord," He said. After a moment, he asked, "if that is all right?"  
  
"It is not my place to give permission. You would have to ask Yue Ying, though I'm sure you already did."  
  
"Yes, lord."  
  
"Very well. Go on in."  
  
Jiang Wei bowed and walked past the Shu ruler who was sitting at a table with his two brothers overlooking a map that had little wooden figures nailed into certain spots.  
  
"Though Sun Jian has been a worthy ally, it seems he is taking his own course now and is trying to domineer over some of Wei's lost land and that of Han's as well," Guan Yu said.  
  
"He is, indeed, trying to take what he can get, and then wanting what is already taken," Liu Bei remarked. "He is getting closer to our own borders."  
  
"That Tiger of Jing is nothing more than a cowardice snake, trying to sneak off to grab more land, little by little," Zhang Fei growled.   
  
Across the table Zhuge Liang sat, who had been studying the map silently to himself for several moments. Liu Bei noticed this and looked up at him.  
  
"What do you think, Zhuge Liang?"  
  
"You are correct, my lords. Sun Jian, now having land of his own, is trying to take over the Three Kingdoms. He wants to be from ruler to emperor, and he will go by cunning measures to take it."  
  
"Cunning?" Zhang Fei gruffed. "He's just a coward with tricks! Just like the Yellow Turban."  
  
"Brother, I advise you to lower your voice, or Yue Ying will kick you out again," Guan Yu pointed out, thankful for his beard than to hide his smile.   
  
Zhang Fei only growled and leaned back in the chair. "At least I'm not being all noisy and butting my head into other people's privacy, especially while they're trying to recover!"  
  
The other three men eyed one another, smiling to themselves as they watched the brute of them all slowly soften up, like he always did when it came to women.  
  
Meanwhile, Jiang Wei knocked on the door in the back and waited for admission. Instead, he heard footsteps walk over and saw the door open, Zhao Yun behind it.  
  
"Jiang?" Zhao Yun said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Yue Ying said it would be all right if I visited. I just want to take a peek and I'll be off."  
  
"S-sure," Zhao Yun said, stepping inside. "So, you know I've been here everyday, huh?"  
  
"Yes. Pang Tong brought it to attention this may have been what you were doing. I always thought you were spending way too much time in here just for scout reports. You don't even go out scouting anymore. Your men do that for you."  
  
"Got me there. Just keep your voice low."  
  
Jiang Wei walked over to the chair where Zhao Yun had been sitting on and looked down at the sleeping girl. She was everything Zhang Fei had said, though Jiang Wei had expected it all to be thrown together into a bulky, ugly like woman. He found instead that she was actually very beautiful. Her hair had been combed out from Yue Ying, obviously, but had left it hang down rather than tie it up as the Chinese women did it. Her face was longer with still full cheeks. She was slightly darker, probably from being out in the sun most of the time. The bed sheets were pulled down to her waist, her whole body bare save for her breasts that were wrapped up to cover the wound on her back. She had a few other bandages wrapped here and there, but what most stood out was a scar running from her right shoulder down to where it vanished underneath the wraps.  
  
"That one healed quickly," Jiang Wei said, particularly to no one.  
  
"Yue Ying said that was an old one. She received long before she was shipwrecked or any of that had happened."  
  
Zhao Yun walked back over than and took his seat next to the bed. "Though I wonder if she really was shipwrecked."  
  
"What do you think happened to her than?"  
  
"I'm not sure. Though I can't believe she got just serious injuries from what our lord said. I believe she might have been attacked."  
  
Jiang Wei looked from his friend to the woman again. "Has she woken up at all?"  
  
"Not while I've been here. Yue Ying says she has though a few times. Sometimes she wakes up during the middle of the night and calls out a strange name."  
  
"Like what?"   
  
"Yue Ying does not know. Being a foreigner, she of course speaks another language."  
  
"Yes, of course."  
  
Just than, Yue Ying walked into the room, carrying fresh bandages and herbal medicine in her arms. "All right, boys. Leave her be now. I need to rewrap her wounds, and I doubt she wants any indecency done to her while she sleeps."  
  
Both the men nodded and walked out the room without question. They knew better than to argue, much less not wanting to interfere with the strange woman's healing. Indeed, they had so many questions to ask. The only thing was, they had no idea how to speak her language, and they doubted she could speak theirs.   
  
Yue Ying sent the supplies down on the table and went to close the door. She than walked back over to the bed and pulled the sheets all the way down to the girls ankles. Her lower body was cut up more badly than her upper one, yet the major ones were all on her back. She carefully slipped her arms underneath the girl's neck and lower back, than slowly, and with quite a bit of effort, hoisted the girl to sit up. She began unwrapping the bandages when the girl's body twitched. Yue Ying froze and looked up at the girl's face. Her eyelids were also twitching, her body jerking now and than.  
  
"Are you dreaming again?" Yue Ying asked softly. "Pleasant, I think not. You must be having a nightmare. Is it of what happened to you?"  
  
The girl did not respond, nor did she jerk anymore, but her eyelids continued to twitch, her eyes moving beneath them with alarming speed. Was she in search of something?   
  
Yue Ying quickly finished replacing the bandages and sat by the girl, watching her closely. She took note again, as she had before, that the girl was well proportioned and had strong feminine muscles. She must have done hard labor or something along the line to develop those. Just what could have happened to her? She had heard Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei's conversation before she had entered. What Zhao Yun made sense. A shipwreck could not have given her those drastic wounds. 


	2. The Dragon Will Come

Chapter II: The Dragon Will Come  
  
Each time she woke up, she found herself lying in the same room as before. She had only hoped she was dreaming, but in the back of her mind, she knew she wasn't. Where was she anyway? She saw only a small wooden room with her lying on an extremely stiff, uncomfortable bed. The mat must been made out of stone.   
  
Each time she woke up, sleep called her back to darkness again. She blinked, looking around again, than waited for slumber to overcome her again. When she remained wide awake, she tried sitting up. That was more difficult than it sounded. At first, her back was so stiff, it would not bend. She tried twisting to the left, than right, hearing a few cracks of the bones. When it loosened up some, she tried again, only to stop once more by a slight streak of pain running down her spine. She looked down at herself and found bandages wrapped around her, and a faint smell crawling up her nostrils. It smelled of…mint aloe leaves? Perhaps; it was too light to be certain.   
  
To her surprise, the bandages was basically all she was wearing, save her panties she still wore around her most intimate spot, thanking the heavens for that. Her legs and arms had also been treated to, she found out, as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed.   
  
The room was almost completely pitch black, save for the little light allowed in through the small window from the moon. It was completely quiet, hardly anything stirring but for a few chirps of the evening crickets.   
  
She also found that the air smelled nothing of Wessex with the mossy air of the moats, or the burning cider of the wood from the fires lighting up the castle at night. It smelled of fresh wood, mountain air she had not breathed in years, and all other elements untainted by man. She could even smell flowers! Just where the devil was she?  
  
Looking around to see if there were any of her other clothes, she stood up than when her eyes finally adjusted to the dim light and spotted the contours of a table across the room. Slowly she made her way to her feet, tested her weight out, and walked over when she found herself stable.   
  
She found several more bandages on the top along with a bottle that held the same minty smell. There was what appeared to be a highly decorated, gold and silver threaded robe beneath the wraps. She put it on, found it a little tight and small and looked out the window.   
  
She saw the strangest looking of buildings outside, ones she had only seen in a particular, well-illustrated book. What was the name of it again?  
  
Not wanting to dawdle on a forgotten name, she made her way over to the door and tried to open it. It wouldn't budge.  
  
She tried again, it still wouldn't go. When she pulled it at an angle, she found it slid open rather than swing. How very strange.   
  
She walked out into a small hall than and made her way down to another door…or more like a paper wall. She fiddled around looking for the handle when her hand accidentally went right through the thin sheet. She thrust it back out and searched with her palm flat, finally finding the handle rather low near the floor.   
  
She had to bend down to get through the door frame, and blessedly came to another door that was open.   
  
She was now standing on a porch so it seemed, and looked around what appeared to be a little village within a castle. Few of the houses were lit with light inside, she guessing it was late in the hour and many were in bed. Just over to the left where a few trees were gathered was a small fire and a few people sitting around.   
  
She remembered than, seeing a woman a few times when she woke up. Her hair had been a much lighter brown than her own, and had a small, full-cheeked face. Maybe she was over there.  
  
She smiled to herself, relief washing over as she began quickly walking over, tightening the robe around her body, though tight it already was.   
  
She stopped than and stood by a wall, listening to them speaking to one another. Or could it be called that? She only heard strange noises coming from one another, yet they seem to understand. She peered around the corner and took a look. The woman as she had hoped was there, sitting next to a man with a…mushroom looking hat on his head along with holding a large feathered fan. He had a pointy looking beard and his eyes seemed bleak in the fire. So did the other man sitting next to him, his hair light brown instead with a strange crown on his head and green-gold amour. Another man was completely covered up, wearing a veil over his face and large, flat looking hat. The man with his back to her looked massively large with muscle and was holding a long spear.   
  
Good lord! Now she knew where she was. In China! How the bloody hell did she end up here?  
  
Her uncle had told her of the Chinese people. They were of an Imperial race, or that is what they liked to think themselves as. They absolutely hated foreigners, wanting to be isolated from the outsiders they though primitive and barbaric. What would they do with her? She was not about to find out. Turning than, she walked quickly away, then when she thought herself safe, began running, her feet pounding into the earth as she sped off. She took another sharp turn only to run right into something hard and fall back. She fell to the ground and landed on her rear, letting out a yelp.   
  
Looking up to see what she ran into, she gasped. From what she had been told, Chinese people were usually much shorter than the average man back at home, but here there seemed to be an exception, and he was a giant.   
  
"Well, look at this," Guan Yu said, resting the butt of his weapon into the ground. "She's up and running about. What are you doing out so late, young woman?"  
  
The woman only looked up at him in fright, slowly beginning to back away without bothering to get up.   
  
She saw another man suddenly emerge from the giant's shadows. He was much shorter, thankfully, but he hardly lacked in muscle, or in possession of a deadly weapon.   
  
"She has wakened," Zhao Yun said, staring at the girl in amazement. "Have you already healed?"  
  
All right, she had no idea what they were saying, but she didn't care to find out. Once she was far enough, she flipped over onto all fours and sprang off like a cat, running at a mad dash.   
  
"Hey! Stop!" Zhao Yun called out.   
  
"Quickly, go after her! I will get my horse," Guan Yu said, already running towards the stables.   
  
Zhao Yun dropped his weapon and took off after her. His armor would slow him down, but years of training had made him prepared to run with excessive amount of weight on him. Still, the girl was much quicker, the robe flailing behind her as she ran like the wind.   
  
She had no idea where she was going though, running past the open gates of the castle. To her left was a maze of rocks and cliffs. To her right was another maze of forest. She only hesitated half a second to decide to go right, but Zhao Yun was able to close up a great distance in that time.   
  
Continuing to run bare footed, she was hardly out of breath as she did much running back at home. She leaped over the limbs of trees that had fallen off, careful to avoid stepping on stones and eventually saw the outskirts of a tree line she hoped she could lose the man in. What she didn't see was that the tree line suddenly ended as it grew only to the edge of a cliff.   
  
"Stop!" Zhao Yun called out. "Don't go that way!"  
  
He quickened his speed than, quickly striping off his gold belt and cape to lessen his weight.   
  
Just as the girl jumped into the outskirt, Zhao Yun leaped forward and wrapped his arm around her waist, making them both land hard into the ground. They rolled over a few times, just stopping a few feet away from the edge.   
  
She shook her head violently, trying to clear her mind of dizziness the sudden impact of hitting the ground had caused. The man had already let go of her and was getting up. She looked over to the path she had been running on and saw there no longer was one, only the black darkness below she would have fallen into if he had not stopped her.  
  
She looked back at the man who was standing over her, holding a stretched out hand to her. Breathing heavy, and completely confused, she took it without hesitation. Without effort, the man leaped her up to her feet with a single tug. She almost stumbled back, but he quickly caught her, and this time, understandably, did not let her go.  
  
"Uh…Thank you," she said after a moment, glad that it was night out as she felt her cheeks grow hot.   
  
The man only looked at her without saying anything and she remembered than that they spoke completely different languages. She tried smiling than when she heard a horse whine in the distance and several voices call out.   
  
The giant was in the lead on top of a huge red stallion, being followed by the others who had been sitting around the fire.   
  
"Zhao Yun! Is everything all right?" Liu Bei asked, dismounting quickly.  
  
"Everything is fine, lord." Gently than, Zhao Yun tugged on the girl's arm to draw her closer to the others. Resisting only silently, she allowed herself to be pulled over. "She was just confused, that's all."  
  
"Poor girl," Yue Ying said, walking up to them. "She cannot understand, therefore she does not know we mean her no harm."  
  
"Then I will tell her," Zhuge Liang announced, walking up next to his wife. He looked than at foreign girl with his bleak eyes, yet his face was gentle and kind.   
  
"Young woman. Do you understand me?"  
  
The girl blinked at him several times than said softly, "I do."  
  
"Good. Understand that we mean you no harm. You are safe with us."  
  
"Yes, I know that now. I am sorry that I ran away. Please tell this man that I said thank you for rescuing me."  
  
Zhuge Liang nodded and turned to the Tiger General. "She gives her thanks for saving her life."  
  
Zhao Yun turned to the woman and smiled. "My pleasure."  
  
As if understanding, the girl smiled back, but it was the gleaming look he had in his eyes that shined in the moonlight making her feel comfortable.   
  
Yue Ying turned than and headed back towards the horses. "Come, let us go back inside the castle and talk there. The girl must be cold."  
  
"Here is your belt and cape, Zhao Yun," Liu Bei said, handing his belongings over. "How did these come off?"  
  
"I had to take them off to lessen my weight, therefore allowing me to run faster."  
  
Liu Bei raised an eyebrow and side-glanced at the girl. "She is that quick?"  
  
"Yes, lord. Very."  
  
Guan Yu brought his horse over than and handed the reins over to Zhao Yun. "Ride back with her on my Red Hare."  
  
"Are you sure, lord?' Zhao Yun asked. "It is your horse."  
  
"I am. Besides, she is not afraid of you."  
  
Not being able to argue with that, Zhao Yun helped the girl mount up, and then himself behind her. He fumbled a bit with the reins, having to reach around the girl's body and grab them from around the horse's neck. His arms, though he didn't mean to, held her securely in place while she sat sideways on the saddle, keeping her eyes to the ground. As the group began to ride on towards the castle gates, Guan Yu walked the other way.   
  
"Guan Yu!" Zhang Fai called. "Where are you going?"  
  
"I want to look around for a moment. I will bet here shortly."  
  
"You'll be there after dawn with the pace you run at!"  
  
If Guan Yu heard, he did not care to respond, already disappearing into the forest where the girl and Zhao Yun and run in.  
  
"Wait!" The girl suddenly cried out, afraid the giant would fall into the ravine.   
  
"Do not worry," Zhuge Liang said. "He knows these forests better than anyone. He will be fine."  
  
The girl turned her head to the man and looked at him for a moment in silent amazement. After a while, she was bold enough to ask, "How do you know my language?"  
  
"I have studied many languages as a boy, English being among the first. It is a language vastly growing as your people travel and explore the world. I encountered another foreigner like yourself several years ago. He was my teacher."  
  
"Does anyone else know it?"  
  
"I think not," he simply replied, and turned to speak with his wife.   
  
Well, so much for her being able to give a personal thanks to her handsome rescuer, or at least she thought he was handsome. At the same time she felt ruinously foolish for having run away like that, and now all these people came out just to make sure she was all right. She never looked to the left of her the entire time, for if she did she would be looking directly into those beautiful, gleaming eyes again.   
  
Though at the same time it was frightening how much strength this lean looking man had. He was only half of the giant and not as muscled as the other man with the spear, yet he was abnormally quick for his speed and had a strength of a…a…  
  
She tried to find a word to describe him best, when she noticed the cape draped over one of leg that held a design of a tiger. Yes, a tiger! That fit him perfectly.   
  
They arrived back at the house where she had been sleeping for the past several days, dismounted their horses and walked in. Zhao Yun only left her side for a moment to light several of the candles around the room, bright enough for her to see everyone clearly, and everyone to see her just as well.   
  
"You must be hungry," the mushroom-hat man said. "Would you care for food and drink?"  
  
"After what she just went through, she was hardly hungry, but was thoroughly parched. "I am a bit thirsty."  
  
The man than turned to the woman and said a few words. She left for a moment into the room across where the girl had been sleeping, than came back with a tray of cups and a small, stout little kettle. She poured cups for everyone and handed them around. The girl had hoped for something cool, but it was obvious whatever the liquid in her cup was not. She brought the rim to her dry lips, tipped the up just a bit and let the hot liquid run down her throat. Whatever it was, it was incredibly strong, making her cough for a moment. Zhao Yun reached over and patted her back. When she stopped, she drank again, this time for careful and found it delicious.   
  
"What is this?" she asked when she was done.   
  
"It is an herbal tea of my wife's own making. It clears the head and heats the chest up during cold nights."  
  
"It is delicious."  
  
Yue Ying smiled and nodded in thanks. She refilled everyone's cup again than returned the kettle back to the room. Everyone than sat around the table, Zhao Yun doing something the others hadn't expected. He pulled a chair out for the young girl than pushed her forward after she sat, taking a seat beside her. Even the girl was surprised, knowing that in China, women were seen as inferior to men, and were what her uncle said, "lived in the shadows of their men."  
  
Zhuge Liang paid no mind to it. "If you do not mind, young woman, there are several questions I would like to ask you, for mine and everyone else's knowledge. Of course, if you are too tired, we can continue this in the morning."  
  
"Oh no," the girl said, waving her hand. "I've slept long enough. Please ask, for I'd like to ask a few questions as well."  
  
"I'm sure you do," Zhuge Liang replied. "First, what is your name?"  
  
"Leonia Winsom."  
  
"Le…on…ia…Win…som…" Zhuge Liang repeated. "A nice name. Where are you from?"  
  
"Wessex, near Essex and bordered to the North by the Norsemen.'  
  
"How did you come all the over here? By ship I presume."  
  
"Yes, but we were attacked by the Danes. They wanted a new ship since there's was in poor shape and they took all our goods we had on board and wanted to sell it to other foreigners. We were caught during a storm, however, and that is when I and the others tried to abandon ship." She went still for a moment. "I believe I am the only one who made it."  
  
"Why did you abandon ship? Were you afraid they would kill you?"  
  
"They would do worse. They wanted to sell me as a harem girl."  
  
Zhuge Liang nodded. He was not exactly certain what a "harem girl" was, but it was something most unpleasant that undignified all women part of it.  
  
"Was you family on the ship with you?" he continued.  
  
"No. It was mostly mercaneris just traveling around."  
  
"Why were you on the ship?"  
  
Again she hesitated to answer. "I was off to go join my husband-to-be who I would marry in the summer."  
  
"Where is he now?"  
  
"In India, where the Danes had planned to sell the goods…the goods that were my wedding present to my future husband. But the waves of the storm carried me out…much further than I had expected."  
  
"Do not worry. I am sure my Lord Lui Bei will take best interest into getting you back home safely."  
  
"Oh, please no!" Leonia cried out.   
  
Everyone look startled and stared at her.  
  
"I'm sorry, but please do not send me back. I can work my living here."  
  
"Zhuge Liang. What is she saying?' Zhao Yun asked, wondering why the girl suddenly looked so frightened.   
  
"Patience, Zhao Yun," he said. "Now, Leonia. Why is it you do not want to return back home?"  
  
"Because…of my husband-to-be! He is a cruel man and would beat me poorly. I was to marry him only for his alliance to protect us against the Norsemen, but we do not need it! They cause us no harm."  
  
Zhuge Liang considered this for a moment, than nodded again. "It is your decision whether you want to stay or go, but you must have the permission of the Ruler of Shu in order to stay here."  
  
"Who must I ask?"  
  
Instead of answering, Zhuge Liang turned to Liu Bei and the others. "Her name is Leonia Winsom. She is from a land called Wessex, bordered by neutral allies and enemies, as we are. She was on a ship on her way to India to marry her husband-to-be, but her ship was captured by people called Danes, ruthless people who are of greed and want of power. She and other mercenaries aboard escaped one night when there was a terrible storm at sea. She is the only survivor however, and it would seem she somehow managed to drift all the way over here. Lord Liu Bei, she asks permission to remain here, for she does not want to return home, in fear of her future husband beating her. She promises to earn her living, and serve under you."  
  
"A foreign woman?" Zhang Fei said. "Never! We are in a time of great war, and we do not—"  
  
"Of course," Liu Bei interrupted. He turned to Leonia and smiled. "You are welcomed here."  
  
His smile told Leonia everything, that he had accepted her request. She smiled brightly than and began to thank him over and over whether or not he understood her.   
  
"What?" Zhang Fei cried out. "Brother, your joking!"  
  
"Actually, I am most interested in learning of the foreign customs. They could one day come in use."  
  
"Use? How so?" Guan Yu asked.   
  
"Lord Liu Bei and I earlier discussed that perhaps if we learned a foreign language, we could use it as a code to deliver messages. If the enemy ever got a hold of one of the messages, they would not be able to understand it."  
  
"Hmm," Yue Ying thought aloud. "That is a brilliant idea, husband and Lord Liu Bei. Many times our scouts were easily captured and were forced to tell the truth. This way, even they won't understand what it means"  
  
Everyone turned to gaze their eyes upon Leonia, who suddenly became nervous under their stare. What were they thinking, she wondered?   
  
"It is settled than," Zhuge Liang said, speaking in Leonia's language. "You may stay here as you wish, and you will pay your debt to Lord Liu Bei by helping me to teach everyone your language. With two teachers, it will go just as fast."  
  
"But I do not know your own language," Leonia pointed out. "How will I be able to teach them if I cannot tell them what they are learning?"  
  
"I will first teach you ours."  
  
Leonia slightly paled. "I've tried to learn other languages before, and I must admit, I have no knack for it. In three years, I have yet to learn how to speak Norse. I cannot even say a simple sentence!"  
  
"Everyone can learn," the strategists continued, disregarding her complaint. "It just takes time and much practice."  
  
Leonia sighed and nodded. "Very well. I shall try. It is the least I can do to your Lord—Liu Bei was it?—and the others."  
  
"Speaking our language is what you can do for Lord Liu Bei. To repay my wife who healed you and kept you alive from bleeding to death, you will learn different medicines and antidotes from her, and become her assistant. And from Zhao Yun, who saved your life tonight…well, you will have to ask him."  
  
Leonia nodded and only continued to stare at Zhuge Liang.  
  
"You may ask him yourself after you learn the language."  
  
Leonia's shoulders dropped, but said, "Yes, I understand."  
  
"Good." He turned back to his Lord. "She understands everything. Wife, she will learn from you and become your assistant. Zhao Yun, you may decide yourself how you with her to repay you."  
  
The warrior look startled. "Repay me? For what?"  
  
"For saving her life, of course. Besides, I do not want her owing you two favors at once."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I must ask you something…after the girl has gone through my teachings, helped everyone learn her language, and through Yue Ying's own medicine training, I want you to teach her how to become a warrior."  
  
"What?" Zhao Yun stood up than, staring down at the strategist with huge disbelief. "Your not serious, lord! A foreign woman becoming a warrior to fight in our war?"  
  
"No, not to fight in the warrior. To protect herself. She will become one of the scouts, but if she should ever be caught, she must know and understand the warrior's way of defending, or committing suicide if there are no other options."  
  
"Zhuge Liang," Liu Bei said before Zhao Yun could argue. "We only have just rescued the girl and have allowed her to stay her. Is it necessary to put her into such risk? As Zhao Yun said, she is not even of this land. It would not be right."  
  
"Lord Liu Bei, at times of war, drastic measures should be made. If she wishes to stay here, she must earn her keep. Besides, we can use all the help we can get."  
  
Lord Liu Bei shook his head, but when he looked up, he gave his most trusted advisor a nod. "Understood."  
  
"Lord—" Zhao Yun began.  
  
"Hold your tongue," Zhang Fei interrupted. "No sense in trying to change their minds. It would be like knocking down a wall with your bare hands."  
  
Meanwhile, Leonia was out of the center of attention, but was wondering why the men—particularly Zhao Yun, the one who had saved her—had such angry looks in their eyes, and why Zhao Yun was yelling at the mushroom-hat man.  
  
"Well," Yue Ying said, standing up. "It is late, and we should all get rest if we are to rise at dawn. After tonight though, I would feel much better if one of you men protected Leonia…until she can do so for herself."  
  
As if the question didn't even need to be asked, everyone save for Leonia turned their attention to Zhao Yun. He meagerly nodded. "Of course. And she does not owe me anything for this."  
  
"Leonia, go with Zhao Yun. You will sleep with him tonight and for all the nights until you are fully trained by him. He will protect you and keep you safe."  
  
At first, Leonia was alarmed that she was to be sent sleeping with a man she did not even know and only having learned his name several minutes ago. But, she remembered hearing of how the Chinese men were of honor and respect, and though the women were considered lesser to their "power," they would never harm their women. Besides, it would be better than to sleep alone in a dark room, even if the two couldn't talk to each other.  
  
Leonia stood up than, Zhao Yun already at her side, offering his arm. Another odd gesture, everyone noted, but the girl seemed to know what to do, taking it and wrapping her own arm around it. They walked towards the door, turned in the doorway and bowed, than left.  
  
"What is this? Does Zhao Yun know all the Western customs?" Zhang Fei asked.  
  
"Possibly. I see him many times reading whenever he has a chance. He may be studying up on Leonia's people and their cultures."  
  
"Is that why you allowed Zhao Yun to guard Leoina?" Guan Yu asked.  
  
"Zhao Yun is of a strong, loyal warrior. With both skill and knowledge, he can become undefeatable."  
  
"You do think of everything, husband," Yue Ying said. "Well, everyone, I suggest you be off to bed. Goodnight."  
  
"Goodnight," everyone else said, and left. 


End file.
